Jaded
by TheSunSetter
Summary: Levi finds himself having mixed feelings when he runs into the younger sister of his late friend, Furlan Church. Old memories and feelings come to light as the two interact, bringing up past regrets in Levi's life. Humanity's Strongest Solider comes to terms with his past with the help of an old friend.


The Marleyan Public Security Authorities had a list of jobs, but one- to some their favorite task- was _punishing_ the prisoners. The use of the Titan Serum to turn Eldians into mindless man-eating beasts seemed to be motivation enough to keep them in line, however every once and a while, a boat to the coast of Paradis would be scheduled to set sail. Tonight's boat load consisted of five men, all convicted of different crimes.

Officer Byrne had made the trip to this wall numerous times. His high rank in the PSA almost granted him the responsibility of scheduling and overseeing these things. As the officer began to follow the other Authorities off the deck, he turned and took a briefcase that was handed in his direction. As they walked to the lifts that they used to get them to the top of the wall, one of the prisoners burst into tears. Some of the other prisoners had already been crying, but this man had been silent the whole trip. In fact his whole prosecution, Byrne hadn't heard a thing from him. Fear truly broke even the most silent.

"So you finally speak huh?" he chuckled as pulled a lever that let the lift door down, allowing the Authorities to push the prisoners aboard the lift. The man spoke unintelligible words, due to his crying. The other prisoners were now visibly shaking as they knew, their fate was on the other side of this wall.

"So I heard the doctors were working on something new?" One of the other officers said as he closed the door behind him.

"Yes. I'm not sure what modifications they made but they want to see how it does. One of the five in here has the new additions." Byrne said as he motioned to his briefcase.

"Seeing how the last test almost cost us one of our Warriors, using the prisoners would definitely be safer." The other officer added.

The two officers stayed silent the rest of the ride up. Neither of them could hear each other over the prisoner's wails. At the top of the wall, the gate opened, allowing the Authorities to push the prisoners out, one by one. Some of them needed to be dragged to their positions but after five minutes, everyone was in their place. Officer Byrne opened the suitcase and immediately observed that one was green, unlike its usual purple. _"This must be the modified one."_ Byrne thought to himself as he scanned the prisoners, wondering who the recipient should be.

As he handed out three of the serums, he looked at the last two prisoners, deciding one would be the bait and the other the test. The man who had previously been crying, was now deep in prayer, hunched over, chanting softly. As Byrne approached, he turned to his direction , pulling against the guard that was holding him.

"Please! I'll do anything! I'll be a spy, I'll do whatever. I just…I just can't become one of those… _things_." The man choked out between sobs. Byrne looked down at him, then over to the edge of the wall. There were sand dunes that had formed against the wall, just enough cushion to keep a man alive. Byrne bent down to the man's hands and knees and grabbed the shackled to unlock them.

The prisoner looked at his now free hands then up at Byrne, confusion in his eyes. "A-are you going to le-" he whimpered but was cut off by Byrne's steel toe boot to his chest. The prisoner went flying over the wall, landing right in the middle of a sand dune. "I'd give you a good twenty seconds before thing's get bad. Maybe if you run fast enough you might find a titan before nightfall!" Bryne yelled down at the man, watching as he scrambled to his feet, falling multiple times before he began to run off.

Officer Byrne turned to the last remaining officer and gave him the altered titan serum. "Same injection site. Do nothing different." He informed before he took a few steps back.

"Alright, it's getting hot. Let's get this over with! Authorities, ready syringes!" Byrne commanded. With this, as he expected, the rest of the men broke down, beginning to scream and writhe against the Authorities grasp.

"Inject when you're ready!"

Immediately the officers injected their prisoners, almost at unison. The doomed men grunted and screamed as they were kicked over the wall, the light from their transformations almost too bright to bear at once. Byrne and the other officers rushed to the side of the wall to look at what the prisoners had become. Three of them, all 30-meter class Titans, ran off after the one unchanged prisoner. It would be almost impossible for him to outrun them.

"Um. Officer Byrne…" one of the Authorities said as he pointed, just below them, at the sand. Byrne pushed some of the men aside to make room for himself as she looked below them. The other men gathered to see below them, a smaller titan, curled up in the sand…seemingly asleep. Or dead. From their point of view, they couldn't tell. Officer Byrne remove his cap to run a hand through his receding hair as he continued to look on in confusion.

"Hm…Seems to be a dud…"

~~~~~~BACK WITHIN THE WALLS~~~~~~~

"You know….you're gonna have to pick sometime." Sasha Blouse said between bites of her bread roll. Vera Church was one of that year's few Training Corps graduates. It had been almost three months since her graduation and she was the only one to not have picked a division to serve yet. She graduated 3rd in the 109th Training Corps, leaving the most attractive option the Military Police. She couldn't see herself inside the walls though. She knew that the Survey Corps was what she wanted but had been discouraged anytime she brought it up.

"The Survey Corps needs people, right? I was thinking maybe talking to Hanji later, now that you brought it up." Vera asked as she offered Sasha her bread roll.

"Vera-Are you sure?"

"Well, I definitely don't want to join the Garrison...the military police doesn't interest me much. If I'm going to help, I want to deal with the issue." Vera concluded.

"Oh...Sorry I was talking about the bread…But yes! If I had to ask anyone to join, it'd be you. I've watched you train with Instructor Shadis a few times. You definitely showed him his age a few times." Sasha giggled. Vera smiled as she pushed her sandy blonde hair out of her face. Sasha's words of encouragement were welcomed greatly.

Sunset had just arrived, painting the sky shades of purple and pink. Most of the other soldiers had taken their leave out of the mess hall, leaving Sasha, Vera and a few others the only ones in the room. They looked out the large window that they sat themselves in front of, enjoying one of the few good things this world had to offer.

"First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to talk with Hanji. Has she scheduled your next expedition yet?" Vera questioned.

"No. We're just training and making sure we don't lose any more territory." Sasha answered before she put the other bread roll in her coat pocket, obviously saving it for later. "I have no doubt she's gonna say yes. You...just have to be sure." She continued as she got up and pushed her seat in.

Vera nodded and got up as well. She put her hair back into its loose pony tail and grabbed her notebook. "I'm sure. I wouldn't join just to hold you guys back because im being a coward."

The two left the mess hall, eventually parting ways to leave to their rooms. Vera had her own reasons for joining the Survey Corps, her brother had joined the same division years ago but died only a few months in. She felt it was only right for her to do her part.

~~HQ Main Building~~

Commander Levi sat at his desk, occasionally sipping his tea as he flipped through paperwork. There had to be holes somewhere in their investigation. They had all this intel but somehow the Beast Titan was still able to sneak in right under their noses. Shiganshina turned out to be a blood bath, one that even Levi was not prepared for. And now all it seemed that they could do is wait, and Levi wasn't a patient man. With Bertolt dead and now that Armin has his titan ability, he could at least say they had one less to deal with…but that Beast Titan was an issue.

Levi neatly put the papers away in his desk before he finished his tea. When he looked to the window, he wasn't surprised that it was already dark. Most days when they had nothing to do were spent in his office, some days it surprised him that he hadn't also made it his living quarters. Taking the last sip of his tea, he set the cup aside and turned off his desk lamp. He stood and grabbed his black suit coat from the back of his chair and slipped it on as he took one last look at his office- making sure everything was in order, before leaving.

The long hallway that separated housing from HQ during the afternoon was a hot spot for many wishing to see the sun set due it being open to the outside, allowing you to see the sky with no issue. However, at this time of night, only Levi found himself walking the halls. Or so he had thought. At the end of the hall he could see someone standing against the railing. He could tell it was a solider by the color of their jacket, so he thought nothing of it.

The wind that night was cold, but it wasn't as unforgiving as the previous nights. The transition of fall into winter hadn't been kind that year, but tonight had seemed to be an exception. The leaves made an impressive noise when the wind rustled them, but Levi's footsteps easily drowned out that sound, making the person at the end of the hallway look his way momentarily. Approaching he could tell it was a woman, one he hadn't seen before. At this point Levi didn't keep track with the new soldiers because only a very, very small percentage wanted to join the Survey Corps.

As he passed and reached the door, he turned to look at the soldier that stood parallel to him, just to find that she was also watching him. When he saw her face fully, his stern look turned into one of confusion. Levi narrowed his gaze as he remembered his past. The two people Levi had ever considered friend had died to the same titan years ago. Furlan Church, the one Levi was closest to, was a skilled fighter, but an even wiser man. They grew up together in the Underground, so they taught each other many things. Since they grew up together, Levi was also aware of Furlan's younger sister, Vera Lee Church. On Several occasions, Furlan brought his sister with him due to his father's incapability to care for them. Their mother died giving birth to his younger sister. Regardless, Levi witnessed Furlan's protective nature towards his sister. Her being one of the reasons he eventually warmed up to the idea of being in the military. Citizens of the Underground get citizenship of the surface and can do the same for a family member after five years of service. Unfortunately, he only lasted a few months.

The woman that stood in front of him shared the same dark, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and soft expression that Furlan did. But even more so, she had the same scar on her left eyebrow from a fight she had gotten into. Out of all people, he wouldn't have expected her to be here. And by the looks of her, she wasn't expecting to see Levi just then either. It was one of the few times Levi wasn't sure of what to say. He hadn't seen Vera since they were all forced to join the military years ago. He wasn't even sure if she knew that he was involved in the same fight that took her brother's life.

"How did you still end up taller than me?" The woman sighed defeatedly. That confirming it was her, Levi scoffed slightly as he folded his arms, partially glad she started the conversation first. "Nice to see you again too Vera Lee." He stated, the slightest bit of annoyance tinged his tone.  
"Vera." She corrected sternly. She watched Levi avert his eyes from hers. She hadn't seen him in almost 7 years. They weren't particularly close, however there were times when Levi would talk with her in the absence of her brother. They were familiar though.

Looking him over, she saw the man that he had grown into. His facial features only got stronger over the years it appeared to her. And while he didn't grow too much past her height, he had gained some muscle tone, not looking nearly as skinny as used to in the Underground. He still looked so serious, but she couldn't have expected different. By his lack of words, she could tell he was thinking about something. Seeing him made memories of her brother rush through her head. She sighed before she also folded her arms and looked down at her feet.

"So what do you do here?" She started as she picked her head up. "Tomorrow I'm talking to Hanji about joining the Survey Corps." She continued.

Levi looked to her, his hair shifting slightly when he did. "What did you rank in your class?" He asked blankly.

"Third."

He raised a brow slightly at her. Most people now who graduated with that rank devoted themselves to the Military Police, the safety of the inner most walls being an attractive motive for many. "You're going to get yourself killed. You have other options." He continued.

"My other _options_ don't offer me anything-"

"If you think you're doing this for Furlan.." Levi interjected but stopped when he saw tears streaming down her face.

"Furlan wouldn't want you jumping head first into something like this for him. You know he'd never let you join." Levi finished. He watched Vera take a deep breath before she looked him sternly in the eyes. "That may be true, but…Furlan died when I still needed his help with everything. I can handle the Survey Corps." She finished.

"Tch…so be it. Don't expect me to be like Furlan though. I can't be your keeper." He warned, watching as she turned her back to him, going back to looking over the railing. "Good. I don't need one." She stated quietly. Levi turned quietly for the door, once again making the sound of his boots fill the air. As he reached the door he turned once again to look back at Vera, who this time kept her gaze someplace else.

"You asked me what I do here. I'm one of the commanders in the Survey Corps. So if you do join…remember that at the end of the day, you have to answer to me. Don't be an idiot." He finished before he opened the door and stepped through, letting it close behind him.

Vera looked at the door once it shut and let out a small sigh. She had been out on the hallway after several failed attempts to get some sleep. She knew it was because of her nerves about joining that kept her up, so she thought some fresh air could ease her mind. Of course, she knew that what she was getting herself into could very well result in her death, but honestly at this point she had nothing to lose.

She stood there silently, letting her blonde hair blow freely with the wind. Regardless of what Levi just said, she couldn't help but feel comforted by Levi's presence. She had made plenty of friend's but seeing a familiar face was something that couldn't be beat, even if it was just Levi. Looking out over the horizon, just barely in her sight she could see the edges of the walls that loomed over the place she called home. She knew that starting tomorrow things would be different, but it would be a change that she knew was necessary to ease the turmoil in her soul. The questions she had couldn't go unanswered any longer. She had made her decision.


End file.
